Forest Strategies
The Forest has been divided into eight local authority districts, only for presentation purposes. Each district should be seen as part of the whole Forest. Cross-boundary links, projects and policies are an essential component of The Mersey Forest concept, although strategies must be conducive to the policies contained within local authority development plans. Each local planting strategy is described in terms of three target levels of woodland cover, guiding principles for the development of the Forest in each district and geographically located policies and opportunities.
The target levels of proposed woodland cover are indicated on the area plans, but not discussed individually in the text. The exact percentage of woodland cover achieved within any percentage band will depend on a number of local factors, including existing land use, landscape quality, more detailed proposals for implementation, land ownership and opportunities for tree planting. The Mersey Forest Landscape Assessment has also guided the proposals for appropriate woodland cover, depending on the identified strategy for each area.
These in turn are based upon the 'Strategies in landscape planning and management' matrix devised by Warnock and Brown (2000) and shown below.
The proposed woodland cover categories are:
- 10-20%: agriculturally dominated areas, principally in the 'maintain' and 'restore' landscape categories, but some are in the 'create' category where this is appropriate. In the mostly flat landscapes they will appear to have good woodland cover and will be noticeably more wooded than similar areas outside the Forest boundary.
- 20-30%: these are mostly urban fringe agricultural areas in the 'create' landscape category, urban fringe areas with a high level of non-woodland uses, such as golf courses, and also agricultural landscape where a higher level of woodland planting is appropriate in the 'maintain and create' landscape category. Woodlands will coalesce in the landscape to create the feel of a forest. The term 'well wooded' applies to this level of cover.
- 30% plus: these are principally urban-fringe areas with a high level of derelict or despoiled land and existing woodland areas where additional woodland cover is appropriate. They will give the feel of being in the heart of a forest area, although there will still be plenty of open land for other activities.
Each local planting strategy also contains other information relevant to the location of trees and woodlands. Transport routes targeted for tree planting, heritage landscapes, areas of high landscape value, Knowsley's landscape opportunity areas and the Sefton Coast planning zone are all shown.
Areas where planting is considered to be inappropriate for landscape and ecological reasons are also shown and referred to by a numbered policy.
The statements of guiding principles indicate general policies for the implementation of the Forest within each district. They are the broad aims for the location and treatment of the existing and new woodland resource. These are developed in the more detailed policies and opportunities which correspond to numbered locations on the plans.
There are several cross cutting policies that should precede the individual local authority strategies.
- Sustainable management of trees, woodland and non-woodland habitats is critical for the long term success of The Mersey Forest.
- Links between the urban and rural areas of the forest should be developed. These links include physical links such as greenways and green wildlife corridors as well as the less tangible links such as educational and emotional links.
- The planning system can be a delivery mechanism for The Mersey Forest. The opportunities for further work with all those involved in the planning system will be explored.
- At the heart of The Mersey Forest is the principle of community involvement. In implementing the strategies set out for each local authority area it is essential that the Forest Partnership engages local people.
